During a fight in his early career, Dricus Du Plessis helped his opponent with his mouthpiece and then threw brutal shots on the ground. The now UFC middleweight noticed that his opponent didn’t have his mouthpiece and assisted him with putting it back into his mouth. Then, Du Plessis threw vicious punches on his grounded […]
During a fight in his early career, Dricus Du Plessis helped his opponent with his mouthpiece and then threw brutal shots on the ground.
The now UFC middleweight noticed that his opponent didn’t have his mouthpiece and assisted him with putting it back into his mouth. Then, Du Plessis threw vicious punches on his grounded opponent.
Dricus Du Plessis Has Been Impressive Since Arriving in the UFC
Du Plessis (18-2) is a former two-division champion in South African mixed martial arts promotion Extreme Fighting Championship. He also claimed gold in KSW.
The 28-year-old inked a deal with the UFC in Sept. 2020. He has been unbeaten since his debut at UFC Fight Night 179. He has finished three of his four UFC fights. Du Plessis last submitted Darren Till with a face crank at UFC 282. He’s currently the No.10 ranked middleweight in the company.
UFC 304 is in the books, meaning attention will soon turn to the mixed martial arts leader’s next pay-per-view offering. The promotion was in Manchester, England last week, where the Co-op Live played host to a number of intriguing matchups for its latest visit across the pond. Of note were victories for newly crowned UFC Welterweight […]
While the aftermath of the July 27 card is currently the talk of the town, it won’t be long until focus sways to the next PPV, and from the welterweight title picture to the 185-pound championship conversation.
There will also be high stakes and Oceanic interest in the co-headliner, as former flyweight title challengers Kai Kara-France and Steve Erceg collide in the latter’s home city in pursuit of staking their claim for a shot at Alexandre Pantoja’s belt down the line.
Hooker, Tuivasa, ‘The Leech’ Set The Stage For Title Headliner At UFC 305
Before Du Plessis defends his championship in Adesanya’s home continent and the City Kickboxing standout’s teammate “Don’t Blink” makes his comeback, a number of other high-profile names will take to the Octagon looking to make the post of their position on the major card.
Prior to that, Australia’s own Tai Tuivasa will look to bring his patented post-knockout shoey celebration back to the Octagon for the first time since his victory over Derrick Lewis in February 2022. That result marked “Bam Bam’s” fifth straight win and left him at #3 in the heavyweight rankings, but he’s since lost four in a row, the most recent of which came against Marcin Tybura at the Apex this past March. The same month saw his next opponent, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, return to winning ways at the expense of Shamil Gaziev.
And opening the main card is the return of Li Jingliang, who hasn’t made the walk since a controversial defeat to Daniel Rodriguez in their short-notice 180-pound catchweight contest at UFC 279 in September 2022.
See below for the full UFC 304 card, as it stands.
Main Card:
Dricus Du Plessis (C) vs. Israel Adesanya (middleweight championship main event)
Kai Kara-France vs. Steve Erceg (flyweight co-main event)
Mateusz Gamrot vs. Dan Hooker (lightweight)
Tai Tuivasa vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik (heavyweight)
Li Jingliang vs. Carlos Prates (welterweight)
Preliminary Card:
Junior Tafa vs. Valter Walker (heavyweight)
Joshua Culibao vs. Ricardo Ramos (featherweight)
Casey O’Neill vs. Luana Santos (women’s flyweight)
A cageside view of Darren Till’s brutal showdown with rising contender Dricus du Plessis is available on YouTube. Once considered a potential face-of-the-promotion level talent, Darren Till has fallen on hard times in recent years. Following his …
A cageside view of Darren Till’s brutal showdown with rising contender Dricus du Plessis is available on YouTube. Once considered a potential face-of-the-promotion level talent, Darren Till has fallen on hard times in recent years. Following his undefeated streak-snapping submission loss to then-UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley at UFC 228, ‘The Gorilla’ has won just…
A win in the main event of UFC 304 will earn Leon Edwards the third ruby on his welterweight title. Since stunning the MMA world with his head kick knockout of Kamaru Usman, the Brit has defended his title on two occasions heading into this rematch with Belal Muhammad on July 27 in Manchester. Edwards […]
Edwards has made it clear that he has big goals in mind for his title reign at 170-pounds where he hopes to break the great Georges St-Pierre’s records.
Though he has no plans to permanently leave welterweight at any point soon, “Rocky” also hopes to challenge himself at middleweight at some stage.
With several top names sitting at the top of the division, it could be a very different landscape at 185-pounds by the time Edwards makes his move.
Dave Lovell Picks Out Sean Strickland & Dricus Du Plessis As Potential Middleweight Fights For Leon Edwards
In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Edwards’ head coach Dave Lovell was asked to give his opinion on who the middleweight champion will be when his fighter attempts to become a two-weight world champion.
Israel Adesanya is set to challenge for the title that he has held twice before when he faces Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305 next month but Lovell doesn’t believe that “The Last Stylebender” will be around for much longer.
Edwards’ friendship with Adesanya makes a fight between them incredibly unlikely anyway but the Team Renegade captain doesn’t see this coming to pass.
He believes that either the current holder or the man he won the title from, could be Edwards’ middleweight opponent.
“I don’t think Israel [Adesanya] because in all fairness, I love him and Israel is my brother but I think he’s coming to the twilight of his career now. and if I was him, if he fights Dricus, maybe win the title, defend it once or even just win that title and retire because he’s earned enough, he’s got nothing more to prove. I wouldn’t like to see Leon fight Israel because we’re all close that way, we’re all friends so I wouldn’t like to see that.
“Dricus maybe if Dricus is still hanging around. I think the easiest, well I take that back, one of the fights that I think would be a good fight for Leon to showcase his skills against a man, Mr Strickland, who’s a kind of come forward kind of style fighter which would suit Leon.
Khamzat Chimaev burst onto the scene by winning two UFC fights in different weight divisions within 10 days. However, the hype train that began in 2020 has derailed a bit due to his inconsistency. Despite defeating credible opponents like Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns, “Borz” has yet to fight for the title at welterweight or […]
Khamzat Chimaev burst onto the scene by winning two UFC fights in different weight divisions within 10 days. However, the hype train that began in 2020 has derailed a bit due to his inconsistency.
Despite defeating credible opponents like Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns, “Borz” has yet to fight for the title at welterweight or middleweight. He was scheduled to take on Robert Whittaker at UFC Fight Night Saudi Arabia last month, and winning the bout would have most likely solidified his first title shot.
Unfortunately, illness once again struck the Chechen star, forcing him to withdraw on late notice. Despite that, though, Chimaev still recently called for a title shot upon his return.
Michael Bisping recently reviewed Chimaev’s career and dismissed any chances of a championship fight next. However, the former UFC champ did reveal the one way through which the prospect can fight the winner of Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya.
Bisping Explains How Chimaev Can Pass Strickland, Whittaker For UFC Middleweight Title Shot
Bisping discussed Chimaev’s demands for a title shot upon his return on his official YouTube channel. Although “The Count” praised the Russian fighter for dominating Usman and being explosive in the Octagon, he highlighted that it isn’t enough for him to pass Whittaker and ex-middleweight king Sean Strickland in the title race.
Bisping also pointed out Chimaev’s inconsistency and how the UFC hasn’t been in proper touch with him. He fought four times in 2020 to gain a ton of hype in MMA circles but has only fought thrice since then. “Borz” has pulled out of bouts several times due to illness or other reasons, which has naturally hurt his brand.
“So, there’s no judgment against him for that, but the reality is for Khamzat Chimaev, the man doesn’t fight too frequently. Had one fight in 2023, two in 2022, and one in 2021. So, that’s an issue for the UFC and, certainly lately, he’s kind of been, I don’t want to say unreliable, but he’s pulled out a couple of times, okay?”
Having said that, the former UFC middleweight champ is certain that Chimaev is still one fight away from getting a chance at gold. At the numbered event in Abu Dhabi this October, Bisping believes he should aim to secure a rescheduled clash with the #3-ranked Whittaker.
Chimaev’s high-pace style slowed him down in the later rounds against Burns and Usman. For Bisping, a three-round battle with “Bobby Knuckles” at UFC 308 would be favorable because the Australian might have the edge in a five-round battle, as they were set for in Riyadh.
“The man is something special. Of course, the cardio issues as the fights get longer. That is the big question, can he do that over five rounds? But Robert Whittaker, if he fought in Abu Dhabi, that would only be three rounds. And that would actually help Khamzat Chimaev.”
“The Count” believes that a win over Whittaker would also allow Chimaev to pass Strickland for a title opportunity due to recency.
“Rebooking Robert ‘The Reaper’ Whittaker. The fight we all wanted to see, the fight that made sense, and the fight that would, I’ll be honest, set up the next number one contender. And that’s a shame for Sean Strickland.”
The build-up to UFC 305 is sure to be an interesting experience for Dricus Du Plessis, given the tension that surrounds his first title defense. Despite them both trading comments for a year now, it still feels like the rivalry between the champion and his challenger, Israel Adesanya, is yet to hit fever pitch. Du […]
The build-up to UFC 305 is sure to be an interesting experience for Dricus Du Plessis, given the tension that surrounds his first title defense.
Despite them both trading comments for a year now, it still feels like the rivalry between the champion and his challenger, Israel Adesanya, is yet to hit fever pitch.
Du Plessis, however, doesn’t see the war of words as anything other than giving back the same energy that he receives from opponents.
He was asked about dealing a ’10-8′ scorecard to Israel Adesanya during their recent verbal exchange, in an interview with the Hard Check Podcast. The South African said that he’s always ready to bite back if others think they can push him around.
“If you were coming at me, listen, I will never ever be bullied or pushed around. It’s not going to happen so I’m always good to go. If you treat me with respect, if we make it about the fight only, that’s the way I’m going to handle it. I mean, look at myself and Whittaker, look at myself and even Darren Till, he was chilled when we were at a presser. Every single guy that I fought before this, it wasn’t necessary because even look at Strickland, I was respectful and it wasn’t the trash talking at all up until he tried to bully me with the mic. That’s not gonna happen and that’s exactly what happened there [against Israel Adesanya].”
Dricus Du Plessis Predicts That Israel Adesanya Will Retire After UFC 305
Despite the fact that both men clearly do not see eye-to-eye on some subjects, Du Plessis has given Adesanya his dues for the career that he has had.
The champion is confident that he is steps ahead of the returning Adesanya at this point but that doesn’t mean he feels the need to discredit “The Last Stylebender”.
He once again gave Adesanya props for what he has achieved and said that he has “earned” his retirement if he fails to reclaim the middleweight title.
“Yes. I don’t give it a lot of thought because it doesn’t really matter to me. It’s irrelevant to me but yes probably. But, like I said, it’s not really something I think about and it’s irrelevant to me. Yeah, I mean, the guy’s done it all in the sport. He’s had, to say a great career would be almost underselling. He’s had one of the greatest careers ever so he’s earned it and it’ll be a great time [to retire him].”
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